What we're doing

Here's an update from the Hoots household.

What we're watching
Peppa Pig: Its the only show my kids ask to watch.  Its a family of pigs, who happen to live in England.  So British speaking pigs dominate our TV.  Its quite funny to hear the language spillover into our daily life.  Eric was traveling last week and FaceTimed us.  Brady asked, "Daddy, why did you ring us?". Our friend, Preston, was visiting last week and Brady said, "You cheeky guy" at breakfast one morning.  Brady is in charge of getting our daily mail, or "post" if we're speaking Peppa.  I feel like its upping my children's IQ, because everyone knows British people are smarter than regular humans.  At least they sound like it.

What we're singing
At bedtime, Jackson will interrupt me if I am not singing the correct song.  Generally, only one of two songs are acceptable and he'll let me know which one he wants:  "Row, row," which is on repeat in my head, or "Bye-Oh" which is a nonsense song my mom used to sing to me.  I googled the lyrics one time to see what the heck they meant, but they don't exist, at least on the Internet. Any help Mom?

What we're eating
For Jackson, anything he can get his hands on.  I've banned Brady from asking things like "can we have a marshmallow after dinner?" Because all Jackson hears is "marshmallow" and then he yells "Mallow! Mallow!" for the rest of the meal.  We're not big on veggies, but my boys love spinach (if it has some dressing).  Jackson actually asked for more tonight during dinner.  Jackson usually likes other people's food better than his own.  Example:  I gave him a hot turkey and cheese sandwich on a roll the other day and he wouldn't touch it.  When I got my own out of the oven and ate it, he sat on my lap and wanted to share it.

What we're wearing
Similar to Jackson's eating, for Brady, whatever he can get his hands on.  Whatever it is, it needs to be tucked in.  High and tight.  His Halloween firefighter jacket was tucked in, so he's been consistent with this trend.  Eric has been relentless in his pursuit to convince Brady it doesn't need to be tucked in, but I think he's finally coming to grips with the fact that Brady will not be convinced.  High socks are still a favorite, but I think Brady is open to a lower option in the right circumstance.  Despite the warmer temps, layering is still popular.  Two pairs of shorts are better than one.  Color coordinating is a requirement, and what color he is wearing generally correlates to what team Brady is playing for during that particular day.  Or particular hour, since outfit changes occur at all times of day.

Jackson is following his brother's lead and has become quite headstrong when it comes to dressing. We tried to put a Popeye shirt on him the other day and he yelled, "Owl!  Owl!" until we fished his owl shirt out of the drawer.  He refuses to wear one-piece PJ's, so we've transitioned to two piece sets, just in time for summer.

What we're reading
Back to Jackson's eating.... his reading is similar. From an early age, he would find a book, find you, then shove the book in your face and say, "Read! Read!" Then, when you finish, "Read! Read!" again.  I've finally hidden the Christmas carol book that seemed to keep popping up in our nighttime reading rituals.  "Potty Train" is a new library book that both boys like, mostly because of the page that goes, "Chugga-chugga, poo-poooo!"

What we're saying
 Jackson vocabulary is exploding, with the assistance of his brother.  Today, Jackson said, "No way, José." It should also be noted that the context of this declaration was when I was trying to get Jackson to hold my hand as we were in a parking lot.  "Self, self!" That's another popular word.

What we're asking
About bad guys.  Brady left his scooter outside last night and this morning, Eric talked to him about how he needed to make sure he didn't leave his scooter out.  Now if it was me, I would have just said he needed to keep the scooter in the garage because that is where it goes.  But Eric took a different route.  So the convo went something like this. 

Eric: "You need to put your scooter away or someone might take it."
Brady: "Like who?"
Eric (already seeing his mistake): "<Indecipherable muttering>"
Brady: "Like Micah?"
Mom: "No, like someone who might take it and not give it back."
Brady: "Like who?"
Mom: "Please just make sure you put your scooter in the garage."

This has led to many conversations about bad guys today.  Brady came down from his bed tonight saying he was scared because bad guys might get him.  We told them there are no bad guys that can come to our house (but apparently they can come right outside our front door.... thank you, Eric.)  Follow up questions included: "But are there bad guys in Chapel Hill?"  "Where do they live?"  "Do they live in a cave?" Who are they?"

Bad guys be warned, if you come to our house, you will not be met with firearms, but with a 3-year-old firing questions.

Crafting

I've been on a bit of a sign-making mission lately.   Here are some signs that are now hanging in our kitchen.

 

And here in our stairwell collage.  Everything is even-ish.

 

 

 

With the impending arrival of baby #3, we are moving the boys into our large guest room and moving the guest room to Brady's room.  Brady will transition from his bottom bunk to the top and Jackson will sleep on the bottom.  In theory.  Or everyone will just sleep in our bed, which is what basically happens every night now.  I wish I could snap my fingers and skip the transition phase from crib to bed.  There is something magical about putting a kid in bed and knowing they can go nowhere unless you move them.

For their bathroom.

 

 

Which reminds me, Jackson pooped in the potty for the first time the other night, but was terrified over the whole thing, a contrast to Brady, who I remember being proud of himself.  I'm not sure that bodes well for potty training.  Last night, right before bath, he told me he had to poop.  I didn't want to put him in the bath with a potential blowup, so I suggested he sit on the baby potty.  He loves reading, so I told him I would read to him if he sat.  He sat for about half the book, but when his tummy started feeling some movement, he went across our bathroom and sat on the bath rug, while trying to convince me to come to him to finish the book.  I tried to coax him back, but he wasn't having it.  Then, he pooped on the rug.  I was comforting the naked kid after he pooped on the rug, because he was also not proud of himself for that, and then he peed on the bathroom floor and looked down at himself in terror, and cried harder

 

So.... potty training has started off with bang!

 

BUT... if you need a kid to pull your toilet paper off its roll, or flush the toilet when you're done going, Jackson is your man!

Newton pit stop

Eric is starting up on his annual "barnstorming" tour, where he takes the seniors to play in small gyms across the state.  On Friday night, Eric had to drive 4 1/2 hours west, so the kids and I decided we'd hop in the car with him and he dropped us off at Grandma and Pop's house, which was on the way.

As I was unstrapping Jackson from his carseat, he said "Bye!!"  I asked him who he was talking to and he pointed at me.  I guess he was expecting to be left by both of his parents.  Let it be noted that he didn't seem very torn up about that. 

Eric and I made an IKEA run on Saturday to pick some things up for the boys' new room that they will be sharing.  With no kids in tow, I thought it was a nice trip.  Eric, on the other hand, wanted to gouge his eyes out with pencils. 

I'll take this moment to brag on my children's intellectual and physical abilities (because what's the point of a blog if you can't do that).  Jackson can now count to 10, although 7 usually trips him up. 

 

And Brady had a blast playing every sport with his grandparents.  Baseball is a favorite, although Brady "isn't very good."

 

Life will be boring once more once we head back to Chapel Hill!



Easter bunny blues

The Easter bunny brought some sweets...and some sickness, to our house this Easter week.  I kicked things off Tuesday morning -- I woke up feeling like I got hit by a bus.  Thankfully, Eric hadn't left yet for his trip to Indianapolis, so I had some backup.  Wednesday night Jackson got a fever and was basically a stage-5 clinger the next several days.  On Thursday night, Brady was puking.  At the time, it wasn't funny, but looking back, it was quite the circus act.

Brady started complaining around 4 am that his stomach hurt.  Coincidentally, Jackson woke up a few minutes later, so both boys were in my bed (the guy that was actually supposed to be sharing my bed was travelling).  Brady's complaining increased, so we went and sat by the toilet together.  He threw up just a few months ago, so I was hoping he'd have a good sense of when he needed to puke and where it needed to go.  Well, at one point, he needed a hug from his mommy.  At that same point, he emptied the contents of his stomach.  On me, on the wall, on the floor.  We were near the toilet, at least.

After cleaning up, we got back in bed around 4:45.  Brady slept restlessly, and I had a feeling we weren't done for the night.  He kept asking me if we could go read books.  Last time he puked, I brought books in the bathroom, so I guess he was hoping for a repeat.  At this point, Jackson also was restless and was trying to burrow into my body, a patent move.  When Brady started complaining about his stomach again, I rolled Jackson off of me and hurried Brady to the bathroom.  He made it in this time (just in time), and while Brady was hugging the porcelain god, I heard the patter of little footsteps.  Jackson joined the party and seemed fascinated by what was transpiring.  The cutest moment (which was right behind..... ok this was the only cute moment) was when Brady picked up his head, he looked at Jackson and said, "Mom!  Look!" while pointing at his brother.

We got back in the bed before 6 and though we all did go back to sleep, the sun came up too quickly Friday morning.  I was very ready for Eric to return on Saturday.  I'm not sure why the three days were so tough on my mental state.  I think it was the combination of me feeling run down, the boys being sick, and mentally thinking that the end of basketball season would be the end of single parenthood. 

This bug manifested itself in terrible diarrhea for both kids, Jackson in particular. Not to go into too much detail, but on Easter Sunday, Jackson pooped 8 times, though I don't think it can qualify as poop, since it was pure liquid.  Apparently, I hadn't reached my sick quota for the week, so Eric did the single parent thing Sunday afternoon.  Our Easter steaks had to be put on hold, and my Easter feast consisted of a few saltines and a handful of Cheerios.

But things are looking up!  And we still managed a cute pre-church picture on the porch.

 

 

 

And speaking of questionable mental states, I'm watching the national championship game with Eric at the moment.  Its tied at halftime. I'm afraid that if Duke wins, Eric might follow Brady's lead and expel his dinner.  Because I love a happy husband and a peaceful house.... GO WISCONSIN!

 

 

Edited: Within an hour of writing, Brady woke up running a fever (although his first words when he saw the game on TV was, "Who are we cheering for?" and then, of course, Duke won.  So I may need to scale back my optimism.